Nick's Mission, Phase 2 (Contact)

Between being rusty at decrypting messages and being limited to doing it by hand, it takes almost an hour to decipher all the letter groups and copy them back out into plain text. Val must have been pretty sure someone was going to come after her; the message is pretty clear, even if the reasons behind it aren't. OP COMPROMISED BY UNK SOURCE XXX SUSPECT INSIDE MOLE XXX UNKNOWN HOSTILES MADE RUN AT ME XXX UNINJURED GTG (gone to ground he fills in) DOMINICK HOTEL XXX MAKE APPROACH ALT DAYS NOON AND FIVE PM XXX PUBLIC MEETING ONLY WILL REQ EXFIL TWO PARTIES INCL SELF XXX DATA SECURED XXX I WILL RELEASE ONLY AFTER EXFIL OF BOTH PARTIES XXX STARLING

It's classic for Val, giving enough information to make it clear she's in trouble, that she's got whatever it was she was sent in to get, and that she's holding that hostage until someone gets her safely out of the area. Along with one extra person, which is an interesting twist. She identifies a place to meet at a local hotel, and he googles it; it's cheap but nice, in a decent part of town. She won't be staying there, too public. It'll be somewhere with easy in and out public access and at least two escape routes nearby; she's going to be somewhere nearby, with eyes on the place, so she can see who all may come by to look for her. What really worries him is that she says someone came after her, unknown hostiles. Which means it's something she didn't expect, or know about coming into the area. With as many pro- and anti-Russian factions involved in local politics and the war, he's not entirely sure it's even necessarily specific to her current job.

So he needs to make contact, and he needs to find a safe exfil route for three people with an unknown payload of data. He has no local contacts, and he considers calling the local agent he was given, Marko Stefaniak. He thinks about it for a moment, goes as far as dialling the number into his cell phone, then decides against it. If there is someone inside this giving up info to the opposition, then it's possible the local is compromised. It's going to need to be someone outside the Company and their resources. Fortunately, he's had quite a lot of experience in certain circles. Instead of Marko, he dials a different number.

"2438," says the voice who answers, a neutral woman of distantly British extraction.

"Bisley, please, 3120 asking immediate."

"One moment," she answers, professional and calm. The phone line makes several clicking noises, and then a slight static starts up, anti-tapping systems.

The line picks up. "Dear me, has the prodigal returned, dear boy?" says a rich baritone, public-school trained.

"Not yet, but I may soon if the wind keeps blowing the way it has."

"Am I to assume this is simply a business call, and not an attempt to rekindle old fires?"

Nick chuckles despite himself. "No fires as I remember. Although not for lack of trying on your part."

"You can be so cruel on occasion," the other man laughs. "To what disastrous emergency do I owe my thanks for bringing your gorgeous self back into the Imperial service?"

"I need a reliable asset in Donets to help with an exfil. My people may be crossed, and I don't know the level of interference we can expect."

"Personal or professional?"

"Professional, if you can call anything my people do by that title."

"Tch, tch," the man clucks, disapproving. "What your people lack in subtlety, they more than make up for in blockbuster bombs."

"Which don't help me right now."

There's a pause, then the man whistles. "It seems the dark angels who stand guard over beautifully cruel objects of lust are in fact looking out for you today. Averill happens to be close enough to be there within a few hours."

"That would be perfect. Thank you, Sir Rodney."

The man laughs. "It warms an old queen's heart helping the mean young men of the world to escape their bonds."

Nick laughs. "Say hello to the boys at your club for me," he says, and hangs up.